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Management

There are a couple of exceptions where price may not We pressed our own corn tortilla by hand, fire roasted Poblano
matter. You want to be careful about changing the brand of chiles for our rellenos, and made homemade tamales. When I
products you are using if your current clientele has been built had cut expenses everywhere I could think of to maximize my
on the unique flavor profiles of those products. You are a coffee profitability, I decided to try a canned chile for my chile rel-
business; so changing the coffee you are using to save a buck lenos. I also decided that I would switch to a premade frozen
or two may not be a wise decision. However, if you can find a tamale. Switching to these two convenient products would save
far better coffee, or one with a flavor profile that is so close to me about 3 hours of labor a day (a major savings, $7 hr. x 3 =
what you are using that it is indiscernible, and it's going to save $21 x 30 days = $630 savings per month; $7,560 a year). When
you money, change! The same applies to your syrups, sauces, I tasted these menu items made with the new ingredients, they
smoothie purees, and powdered blended drink bases. Some- weren't nearly as good as what I had been making from scratch,
times you might be able to find a better price on these items and I prepared myself for the irate customer fallout that I was
without changing brands, simply by finding distributors who sure would follow. To my surprise, no one ever said a word, and
are more competitive. my sales of these items never dropped a bit. No one noticed, or
cared!
Buying some products at cash & carry outlets
Sometime you can find incredible saving on products Once you have sourced the best prices for your products,
at wholesale food warehouses. The savings should be signifi- you'll need to manage those products after they have entered
cant to justify your, or your employee's time to go shopping your store. The value of the products you purchase can be greatly
for these items. diminished if they are not handled and used properly. This can
happen in a number of ways:
Here's a hot tip that will save you significant cash, and is
worth your time. Recently I was shopping at Costco, and noticed Product lost to over portioning
that they were selling milk for $3.78 for 2-1 gallon containers. Hopefully, when you determined the prices for the items
That's $1.89 a gallon! With milk typically costing $2.89 a gallon you would be selling from your menu, you calculated how much
(or more), this represents a savings of $1.00 or more per gallon of each ingredient would go into an item, and what the cost of
(and yes, the milk steamed fine). If you go through 15 gallons of those ingredients were. It will be critical for your employees to
milk a day, this represents a monthly savings of $450, or more know what your prescribed portions are, and to adhere to them!
(getting you almost half way to your $1,000 a month increase in If you don't already, you need to have recipe sheets for all the
bottom line, with switching your source for only one product). items you serve from your menu, (if they require assembly by
$450 x 12 months = $5,400. annual savings. I'll go to Costco twice your employees). I like to laminate these recipe guides, and tape
a week to pull an additional $5K+ to my bottom line, and you them down to the countertop or wall directly adjacent to where
should too! the items will be made. Having recipe guides will provide your
employees with a reference, and it will eliminate the excuse, I
Consider lowering quality slightly on some products to save didn't know.
money
Now, I am a strong believer in using the highest quality Be sure to supply your employees with the tools neces-
products possible, and I would never sacrifice the quality of any of sary to accomplish precise portioning. Portion control pumps on
my key ingredients. But, there are some things you might be able all your syrups and sauces will permit for fast, accurate dispens-
to downgrade on slightly, while not upsetting your customers. ing; much better than free pouring, or using a graduated shot glass
to measure with. Use a scale to portion sandwich meats, cheeses,
If you are using a very high quality, expensive paper and salad greens. Use a portion control scoop or ladle to scoop
cup, consider going down just one level of quality. Some custom- potato or pasta salad, and to dish up soup.
ers might notice, but as long as their beloved cup content hasn't
changed, it's doubtful that you will hear many complaints. (Note: Over portioning can cost you big bucks. Let's say your
the industry "big boys" aren't using fancy cups, and it hasn't hurt barista is using one extra pump (1/4 oz.) of flavoring in every
their business!) Saving a couple of pennies per cup can really add flavored drink they prepare. If you are paying $6.00 for a bottle
up. If you serve 200 hot drinks a day, this amounts to a $4.00 per of syrup, and the bottle contains 25 oz., then ¼ oz. is worth 6¢
day savings; $120 per month, $1,440 per year. ($6.00 ÷ 25 = 24¢ per oz., ÷ 4 = 6¢). If your barista is preparing 50
drinks a day that contain a flavor, this represents a loss of $3.00
Look for other items where you might trade off some due to over portioning. If they work 20 days per month, this
quality to gain extra savings. Are you buying name brand Equal, equals $60. $60 x 12 months = $720. of lost product per year!
Splenda, and Sweet ‘n Low, or are you saving by buying your
foodservice purveyor's house brand instead (it's the same stuff). Perhaps $60 doesn't sound like a significant monthly
Or, maybe you are using expensive sandwich meats. If you are loss to you, but what if two of your other baristas are doing the
buying Black Forrest ham, but could save a couple of buck a same thing? And, what if your prep cook is over portioning sand-
pound by going to a conventional deli ham, would anybody really wich meats and salad green by an ounce or two? It all adds up!
notice? Maybe, if they ate a slice of each side by side, but if it's
going on a sandwich, with cheese, mustard, and pickles, I truly Coffee is a business of pennies, watch the pennies and
doubt it! the dollars will take care of themselves! Or here's another way to
look at it, if you had employees that were steeling $60 a month
Case in point: 20 years ago I owned a nouveau Mexican from you in cash, would you tolerate it? I'm sure you wouldn't,
restaurant, featuring gourmet, hand made, regional specialties. and you shouldn't tolerate over portioning either!

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